Page 35 of The Billionaire’s Contract Bride

Footsteps echoed outside the lounge door.

The woman moved toward a service door disguised beside the mirrors. “Ask your husband.”

“I don’t have one yet.”

The woman paused, looking back over her shoulder. “Then you still have time to run.”

She slipped through the door just as Damien entered. His gaze swept the empty lounge before settling on Aria.

“Who were you speaking to?”

She dried her hands on a paper towel. “No one.”

His eyes dropped to her left wrist. She was rubbing it nervously—a subconscious habit that betrayed her.

“That,” he murmured, “is your first lie as my wife.”

Aria met his gray eyes in the mirror. “Not yet.”

Damien extended his hand toward her. “Then let’s correct that.”

Chapter Six: The Vow

Aria looked at Damien’s outstretched hand and thought of handcuffs.

Polished ones. Expensive ones. The kind lined in velvet so the prisoner could pretend comfort made captivity something else.

“Who was she?” Aria asked, ignoring his hand.

His arm remained steady between them. “Who?”

“The woman you planned to marry before me.”

Nothing moved in his face, but the sudden stillness in the room was too precise.

“You were speaking to Vivian Laurent,” he said flatly.

“So you were eavesdropping agian.”

“She is the sister of my father’s second wife—and a woman who survives by making other people afraid of old ghosts.”

“She said your first bride vanished.”

“Intended bride.”

“That correction isn’t reassuring.”

“It wasn’t intended to be.”

Damien lowered his hand and stepped toward the concealed door beside the vanity. He pressed the hidden panel, but the door remained locked. His jaw tightened.

He pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. “Vivian,” he said into the receiver, his voice dropping an octave. “If you are still inside this building when Lucien finds you, the conversation will be significantly less pleasant than the one you just enjoyed.” He ended the call without waiting for a response.

Aria watched him. “What was her name?”

“We are late.”

“I’m not walking through those doors until you tell me.”